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'The biggest clue that a murder will take place': Kentucky AG unveils response manual dealing with strangulation

Josh James
WUKY
Josh James

In 2019, Kentucky passed a law making strangulation a serious felony, punishable by up to 10 years behind bars. Wednesday, Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman discussed a new response manual meant to guide law enforcement, healthcare, and other first responders on how to identify and deal with the crime.

Nearly five years after the passage of the state's strangulation statute, a multidisciplinary team of Kentucky professionals — including employees with UK Health Care and Kentucky Children's Hospital — have created a manual bringing together information about how to spot signs and symptoms, care for survivors, and prosecute strangulation.

Dr. Christina Howard, medical director of the Kentucky Children's Kosair For Kids Center For Safe and Healthy Children and Families, said strangulation often presents challenging cases.

"Because of the absence of those visual signs... a lot of people don't understand the significance of it," she said. "How often does it happen? Because there's a whole lot of victims that never come forward and say anything. So even, what we know about it... it's still an underestimate of the true number of victims that have have suffered being the strangulation."

There's the medical side and the law enforcement side. On the latter, officers have struggled to articulate the severity of strangulation and to convince juries to take the accusation more seriously. Kentucky's top cop, Attorney General Russell Coleman, said the crime is far more than just another red flag.

"Strangulation is one of the most accurate predictors for the subsequent homicide of victims of domestic violence," Coleman told an audience at the University of Kentucky Wednesday. "It's the biggest clue that a murder will take place."

The manual is now being sent to law enforcement agencies across the state, and the authors hope it will serve as a national guide.

Victims of domestic violence should contact the Attorney General's Victim Resource and Referral Line at 800 372-2551.

Josh James fell in love with college radio at Western Kentucky University's student station, New Rock 92 (now Revolution 91.7). After working as a DJ and program director, he knew he wanted to come home to Lexington and try his hand in public radio.